Best Tips for Online Furniture Shopping

"Know the Rules"

Mr. New Material

Shopping for furniture online has become one of the fastest growing trends of today. Sure you can easily go to your local mall or furniture store, however why even leave the house when you can furniture shop online? While it's simple and convenient, there are many things to know when shopping for furniture online. Peep the set of tips listed below!

Going out of Business Sales: Watch out for "going out of business" sales! While these sales have super low prices, the quality of their products may be in question. Since you can't see the item in front of you, you have to go by description or a supplied display picture; it may look nothing like the item when you get it.

Shopping for Mattresses: Pay special attention when shopping for mattresses online from a furniture store. If you see the words "satisfaction and comfort guarantee", keep moving onto the next item. When you see these words that means you may send the mattress back if you don't like it before 30 days. Think about it......You could be purchasing a mattress that someone else has sent back due to unknown reasons. This truthfully is a health hazard as anything could have been done to the mattress, use your imagination!

Research: Before settling on one item, do research online! This is important if you're trying to get the best deals. A lot of online furniture stores will match prices of other places if you can prove that they are cheaper, use this feature to your advantage.

Understand Space You're Working With: Before ordering any furniture online, make sure you have the proper measurements for the amount of space you're working with. Since you won't be looking at the furniture in person, you'll have to go by the measurements. If you don't have the right measurements, you may get a piece of furniture that way to BIG for your LITTLE space.

Shipping Cost: This is the most important factor to pay attention to when shopping online for furniture. Shipping cost for some furniture pieces may exceed well over $200 even if the furniture piece itself doesn't cost that much. Look for sites with "free shipping" or low shipping cost. A lot of stores will have free shipping if you spend a certain amount of money on their site.

Adapt to the Furniture: Adapting to your furniture would be to specialize it for whatever restrictions you have in your home. Most likely you would have to cater your furniture to pets and kids. Sometimes it's good to get child safety furniture or extra protected furniture for pets that like to scratch or shed.

The Price Game: Know that higher prices, doesn't always mean better quality. A lot of items will be priced extremely high but the quality won't match up to the price. Watch out for these scams. If you come across an offer like this, try sending the site an email asking them why their items are priced so high.

Wood Scams: When shopping online it's important to watch out for wood scams. A lot of times dressers and computer desks will be titled as "cherry" or "polished" wood, however, when you receive your merchandise you realize it's just ordinary dry wood. Make sure to double check that you marked the right type of wood you want.

Customer Service: Most people have a huge fear of shopping online to begin with, so it's important to look for a site that offers customer service. A lot of online furniture sites fail to list a customer service email or phone number in case you run into problems with your order. If you want to make sure everything is safe with your order online, look for customer service!

Used Furniture: Stay away from used furniture if there is no picture display! Sometimes when you order an item it will have a section of that same item for a different price if used. Make sure there is a picture of the used item before buying it! It can be in any shape when you get it and you would never know.

Published by Mr. New Material

CEO of Fiya Dro Records as well as Manager for Perfectly Pretty Models. Born and raised in the "YaY Area" California! I'm a Keep It Real Specialist, Ima tell you how it really is no matter how you feel about...  View profile

4 Comments

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  • Jessica Rowe11/3/2008

    With all the internet buying going on these days, these kinds of tips are becoming a necessity. Great job and thank for the needed tips.

  • 3lilangels10/16/2008

    Excellent tips here very nicely done!!

  • cheryl brown10/15/2008

    Great article. I've never shopped for furniture online....I guess it would have to depend on what I was shopping for.

  • Kat V10/15/2008

    Good job, but I still like to sit on couches on the showroom floor. I don't think I'd ever shop on-line for furniture for that reason alone!

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